A Story about Ziva
by NCIS Jenny167
Summary: A little story about Ziva's past in Israel, before she came to America, including the death of her mother(and maybe sister if I have enough time to finish it). Feel free to criticise, including grammar or typing errors :)
1. Chapter 1

_Thud!_

The sound was barely audible.

_Thud!_

Ziva's eyes snapped open. With her hand already closed around the gun under her pillow she froze. Holding her breath, she listened to the now quiet house around her. But whatever had made that sound had stopped. Still listening closely she got up anyway, thinking that since she was already awake, she could as well go and check.

As she moved down the hallway noiselessly, she could hear her sister's breathing in the room next to hers. She stopped only briefly to listen to the steady and deep breaths. Tali seemed fine, fast asleep, which was not unusual at 0130 in the morning. Ziva continued her patrol around the house, making sure the deadbolts were all in place, every window on the ground floor closed. Of course, anyone seriously attempting to enter the house would have no problem to find a way. There was always a way. She of all people should know: with an easily crafted tool and a little bit of practice there were very few doors that wouldn't open in a few seconds. And for those, there were many other possibilities.

Luckily everything around the house seemed fine and it was too early, even for Ziva, to go on a run so she decided to go back upstairs and get some more sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. Lying on top of her covers (it was summer in Israel and the temperature was unbearable, even at night) she thought about the sound that had woken her. What had made that sound? Had she just been imagining it? There was no one in the house except for Tali and herself, her father was on a mission somewhere abroad, so was Ari, her half-brother. Her mother had died almost a year ago. Ziva didn't mind being alone with Tali, the two of them got along excellently, and Ziva was more than able to take care of herself and her baby sister. It was no use, she wouldn't fall asleep anymore. So she took some time to clean her weapon. Doing that always seemed to calm her down. When it was clean enough ( it had not been dirty before), she went downstairs and made some sandwiches for Tali to take to school. But she was done with that way too quickly, too, leaving her with nothing to occupy herself at 0330 in the morning. What else could she do? She ended up sitting in the garden under a gnarled olive tree her parents had planted the day they got married. This was Ziva's favorite spot to think, when something was on her mind. With her back against the bark she watched the sun rise slowly behind the mountains around the city, allowing her mind to wander freely. She had sat here, in the exact same spot, almost a year ago. Memories suddenly flashed by, memories she would never forget:

_She began running as soon as she was sure that her father would not be able to see her through the windows of his office in Mossad Headquarters. This morning had been no different from the one before, she had gone for a run, taken a shower and left for work before neither her mother, nor Tali had even woken. The day continued to be perfectly ordinary. She was preparing herself for a mission in Eastern Europe, her flight was to depart in less than two weeks._

_The sun had almost reached its highest point, when her father, the Deputy Director of Mossad, ordered her to his office immediately. She knew something was wrong the moment she entered. There were no files or reports on the desk in front of her father, which meant that this had nothing to do with any mission. All the time she had worked here he had never even once called her to talk about something other than work. At work, she was like any other Mossad Officer to him, following orders, not asking questions, not showing emotions, not failing any missions. No special treatment. Not that she would have expected any, she was, after all, raised by him the same way. His perfect assassin, completely professional and always under control. She had also been taught to read people. Some of them were as easy to read as any book, others were more different. Her father was one of the very few people she could never be sure about._

_He was looking at her. A long studying look. She stood there silently, a few feet away from his desk, not looking at him directly, still waiting for orders, as she was supposed to. But no orders came. Instead, he kept looking at her as she racked her brains, trying to think of something that she might have done. Nothing came to her mind; this was a perfectly normal day to her. Until her father said her name:_

" _Ziva__**."**_

_She looked at him, startled as he would never call her by her first name at work. He didn't seem to notice her reaction and continued:_

"_Ziva, there was a car explosion today, only a few blocks from the school. Your mother has been killed."_

_After he finished, silence filled the room like a dark, heavy cloud. She knew exactly, he was waiting for her to tear up, to show emotions, so he could tell her off. Because that was what a good Mossad officer was not allowed to do. But she wouldn't let that happen, she had once sworn to herself that she would not let any man manipulate her like that. Nodding once, she asked the only question she knew wouldn't cause her any trouble:_

"_Tali?"_

_Her father, already turning his attention back to his computer screen again only nodded and said:_

"_She's with Aunt Nettie. Dismissed."_

_Ziva didn't know how she had made it out of the room and out of Headquarters in a normal pace. Her backpack was still at her desk, as were her car keys but she didn't care. She had already put three blocks of distance between her and that office. When she got home, she walked around the house for a while. Someone had been here. All of her mother's personal belongings were gone. So that was how her father would keep her from getting distracted, from mourning. Furiously, she stormed outside, wandering around the garden. That was, when she saw the olive tree. The last thing that reminded her of her mother and the time before her father had gotten promoted to Deputy Director. The time when they had almost been a normal family. Almost. Thinking about it, it seemed like a dream, a dream from years ago. She sat with her back against the bark of the tree, allowing herself to show emotions, swearing that it would be the last time._

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on the dry grass ripped her out of her memories.


	2. Chapter 2

**-This is the second part of the story. I'm sorry that it's so short but I don't know how to continue it...yet... :)**

**So, have fun and enjoy the summer.**

**Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer for the first chapter:**

**Disclaimer for Chapter 1&2: The Show with all the Characters do NOT belong to me and I don't intend to claim anything.**

-Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on the dry grass ripped her out of her memories.-

She spun around and jumped to her feet, drawing her weapon as she did so. Tali jumped backwards and raised her hands protectively.

"Ziva!"

With a pointed look at the gun barrel facing her she added:

"It's me, you can put the gun down."

-"Tali. I'm sorry, I did not intend to wake you before. It is 04:30 in the morning and a school day. Let's get you back in bed."

Ziva put her weapon away and was already turning towards the house when Tali stopped her.

"No, I'm fine, I'm not tired anymore."

But the look on her face said otherwise.

" Nightmare?"

–"Yeah, a real bad one. Why do nightmares have to feel so real?"

Ziva sat under the tree again and patted the spot next to her.

"Tell me about it, Tali."

Seeing the relief in Tali's eyes as she sat down next to her sister made Ziva smile. She put her arm around Tali who leant in and put her head in Ziva's lap. After telling her all about the nightmare she felt a lot better. Ziva always knew how to calm her, make her feel safe.

"Why can't I be as strong as you are? You're never scared, Ziva. Why can't I be like you?"

Failing to hide the horror that crossed her face at that thought, Ziva turned her head quickly, so Tali wouldn't see it. If she knew what she had just said, this nightmare would have been the least horrible. But it was so like her to try to be like her sister. Ziva was, after all, her role model. At least the side of Ziva, that she knew, the side of a loving and caring big sister. As for the other side, Ziva wasn't sure. Really, how on earth do you tell your sister, that you're a trained assassin? That there's on side to you (the one she hopefully would never get to see) that killed human targets without thinking twice about it? Fact is: you don't. There are things in life that you cannot even tell your sister about.

When Ziva looked back down at Tali, her gaze was met by worried but curious brown eyes. Tali's eyes were exactly like hers. They looked into each other's eyes for a while, each fascinated by the other. But unfortunately Tali had not missed the look that had crossed Ziva's face before. "Tell me what you're thinking, Ziva."


End file.
